Council

Alex MacKenzie

Chair

Alex is a clinical lead in acute physiotherapy in NHS Grampian. As clinical lead, she is deputy lead for physiotherapy in the acute sector of NHS Grampian. Previously she worked in acute oncology and haematology, both roles as part of a job share. Alex has been a steward for most of her career and a regional steward for Scotland. She has a keen interest in trade unionism, having chaired both the National Group of Regional Stewards and the CSP Industrial Relations Committee, and has participated in TUC conferences. Most recently, Alex has spent two years as Chair of the Governance Review Group of the CSP. 

Claire Arditto

Claire is the Trust AHP Strategic Lead & General Manager.at Harrogate and District NHS foundation Trust. Claire has been a Council member since 2015 and served on the Industrial Relations Committee. She is the outgoing chair of the Yorkshire and Humber English Regional Network. Her special interests are in quality improvement. She is currently a Platinum level Certified Leader, developing and building resilience in the workforce. 

Ishmael Beckford

Ishmael is the CSP’s BAME Network co-opted member on Council – he was nominated and appointed to this role in September 2020.   As a co-optee Ishmael does not having voting rights, however he will be attending all Council meetings for the next year, starting with the September Council.  Ishmael is a Director at a large independent provider of physical and mental health services. His experience includes working in private, public, and corporate sectors roles, primarily in a musculoskeletal setting but more recently also in mental health. Ishmael has held several senior management positions including Head of Service and Operations Lead. He is passionate about equality, diversity, and inclusion and management and leadership development in healthcare. In being elected to a co-opted Council member role he hopes to champion issues that impact underrepresented groups of the membership, to the benefit of the whole profession and diverse population it serves. 

James Benson

James is a neurological physiotherapist working in a thriving private practice in the Midlands. James offers a comprehensive treatment programme that can include the Bobath technique, Functional Electrical Stimulation, Saeboflex® and hydrotherapy.  He is also skilled at assessing all aspects of tone and spasticity and a competent injector of Botox® for limb spasticity. As an active member of the CSP, James was awarded a prestigious CSP Service Excellence Award in 2015. 

Dr Fidelma Moran

Fidelma is a lecturer in physiotherapy and course director of the MSc in Professional Development in Physiotherapy at Ulster University. She is responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research, with specific remit for cardiorespiratory physiotherapy. Fidelma is an active member of the CSP, having been involved in the NI Board, CSP Education Committee and the recent CSP JLA Priority Setting Partnership. She has also participated in quality assurance processes at external institutions.

Sarah Morton

Sarah is professional head of adult physiotherapy within Gloucestershire Care Services. She has been in her current role for four years and has developed a range of roles and responsibilities within her employing organisation and additionally at an STP level. This has helped ensure that physiotherapy as a profession in Gloucestershire has become integral in helping to shape current and future models of care. 

Rachael Moses

Rachael is the consultant respiratory physiotherapist for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She now works in a consultant physiotherapy post at Royal Preston Hospital. As well as representing CSP Council, Rachael is also involved with several other organisations, including the British Thoracic Society Council, NHSE Patient Safety Group, St Catherine’s Hospice and Medical Aid for Palestinians. 

Stuart Paterson

Stuart is leader of a clinical team of over 200 chartered physiotherapists that provide physiotherapy services to the public and private sectors. He was elected to Council in 2015 and contributed to the development and approval of the new governance model. He is the founder and owner of the Crystal Palace Physio Group, growing the business from 2 to 330 staff. 

Dr Karen Robb

Karen is the Macmillan rehabilitation clinical lead at the Transforming Cancer Services Team in London. Karen has been a chartered physiotherapist for 25 years and has held clinical, academic, research and strategy roles. She currently supports the commissioning of cancer rehabilitation in London and is responsible for producing and implementing guidance on managing the consequences of cancer treatment. She has developed and implemented novel approaches to treatment and recovery and has worked closely with Macmillan Cancer Support. 

Barbara Sharp

Barbara qualified and became a member of the CSP 1983. She specialised in MSK musculoskeletal and then became an advanced practitioner in Spinal Assessment and Chronic Pain Management. She currently works as the lead for pain management in Cornwall as part of an interdisciplinary team within a biopsychosocial-orientated pain service. Barbara has been an active member of the CSP since the 80’s: she has been a CSP steward and local branch member and became the inaugural Chair of the South Central Regional Network. Barbara held an alternate Council position in the last Council. She is currently the professional representative and secretary of the British Pain Society’s Pain Management Programme Special Interest Group.  

Shona Thompson

Shona is an advanced physiotherapist who works in a major trauma centre on a ward that combines acute major trauma and specialised rehabilitation. She is responsible for a team that combines patients requiring hyperacute specialised rehabilitation with patients who have had polytrauma. She has previous experience as a CSP workplace steward and more recently as a regional steward. Election as a Council member gives her the opportunity to be involved with physiotherapy as a whole profession, combining her trade union interests with her clinical passion. 

Marie-Clare Wadley

Marie-Clare is a Clinical Specialist in musculoskeletal conditions with a specialist interest in advance practice and is currently working on first contact physiotherapy in MSK. She has been a Clinical Lead specialising in musculoskeletal since 2004, having started her physiotherapy career in 1994 as a technical instructor and qualified at the University of Southampton in 2002. She has a special interest in using acupuncture alongside manual and exercise based therapy and a passion for sport, having worked with rugby, polo, equestrian and hockey teams. Marie-Clare graduated with an MSc in Clinical Health Care at Oxford Brookes University in 2014, having studied advanced rehabilitation, advanced history taking and assessment, diagnostic reasoning and evidence based practice. 

Katie Wilkie,

Vice Chair

Katie is a specialist physiotherapist with over 25 years’ experience dedicated to neurological physiotherapy, currently working in a multi-disciplinary neurological rehabilitation out-patient team in Edinburgh. Katie has been involved in CSP voluntary roles throughout her career. She also served as a workplace steward for 11 years and as a regional steward for eight, serving on the CSP industrial Relations Committee and Scottish Board as a regional representative. Katie completed two years in the role of Board chair and has served on CSP Council for the past four years.